Chapter 8: Within the Islands of the Academy.
___________________
Arteus
1st year - class 2B
Room - B2F4R16
•Desperados•
___________________
Arteus gave his ID a last look before finally lowering his arm. And the moment he did, the Projection easily went away and going back into its previus look which is the three thick dots on his wrist.
With that out of his mind he started walking toward the door that the Lady on the counter was pointing at and opened it. Inside is an empty room that could fit maybe four people. But.. what is he suppose to do here?
"uhh.. Do I need to do somethi-" Arteus stepped back out the door, ready to speak to the woman at the counter — but the words caught in his throat. The room he expected to see was no longer there..
In his view stood a lively, crowded plaza and not the quiet room he was expecting.The plaza was quite large, with a fountain right in the center. Benches lined the area, surrounded by trees, bushes, and well-tended landscaping that gave the whole place a cozy, welcoming feel.
What stood out even more was the sheer number of people around. Almost everyone seemed to be wearing the same outfit — or at least something very similar. On closer look, the outfits followed two distinct styles: one trimmed with golden seams, the other with red. with the former being more prevalent than the latter. Just above the plaza stood a towering arch, intricately carved with the figures of a dragon and a phoenix chasing each other in a loop, forming the arc itself.All around him, people bustled — some old and balding, others young and full of energy, just like him.
Beyond the arch rose a massive building. Its architecture was sleek yet regal — it looked almost like the manor of a powerful family, yet at the same time resembled a fortress. He could make out rows of windows and even spotted a familiar structure jutting out — the same kind of platform he'd seen in Lumens, the surface city of Ambrosia Kingdom.
"Terrace," he recalled, remembering what Derek had called it when he'd asked about it back then.
Through the rows of windows, he could see dozens of people moving about. Some stood alone; others chatted idly while overlooking the plaza below.As the shock of suddenly finding himself in a completely different place began to fade, the sound of the crowd slowly filtered into his awareness.
"Who wants to go with us? We're short a few members for the D-class assignment!"
"Is anyone able to do the assignment from yesterday? I'll pay upfront — and there's a bonus if I get a high score!"
"Need help with Advanced Rune Writing? I offer cheap tutoring!"
"Who's selling a Grade 2 Essence Crystal? I'm willing to pay a lot!"
Shouts like these echoed across the plaza, coming from the students scattered throughout. Some were offering, some were seeking — whether it was help, resources, or trades.Most of what he heard revolved around Grade-XX Assignments, Essence Crystals, academic subjects, trades, and Credits.
Finally, he stepped fully out of the room he'd come from — only to see that it was just a simple wooden shack.Definitely not the grand building he had entered earlier.
'Is it teleportation?' he guessed as he took another step away and switched focus on what he have heard.
'By logic, "Credits" are probably the currency here. No idea if it's just for academy use or if the whole island uses them… but never mind that. Someone will probably explain it later, or I'll figure it out later on.'
With that thought, he finally began walking away from the small shack in the middle of the plaza.
'Given how no one reacted to me randomly stepping out of what should've been an empty shack... I guess that's really the entrace here?... kind of underwhelming, not gonna lie.'
He then began walking forward ready to face his new beginning — then froze.
'Wait… where am I supposed to go?'
He stood still, trying to think. Then his gaze drifted toward a distant cluster of towering buildings.
Without any better idea, he decided to head in that direction.
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.
.
Walking on the paved brick road he kept looking around.. looking up and checking out the towering buildings and entire place. He could see the same people coming in and out of different buildings.
There's something he noticed around him too, but he dismissed it as a coincidence or just his imagination. Then his eyes landed on top of the entrance of the building on his right. It reads: B3
then his eyes widended in excitement.
He then ran back to where he came from, and after a while he arrived, a different building.. a different entrance then he checked the top of the entrace it reads: B1
Looking around he turned his attention on the building on the otherside of the road and squinted his eyes. It reads B2.
'That might be it!' He screamed in his mind and ran across the street and quickly entered through the entrance. Inside was a extravagant room it was spacious and theres a few people around lounging and reading or either speaking with one another. Theres also soemthing strange he noticed.. it looks like chair with soft and thick looking covers..
'What are these?' He thought as he approached one and poked the thing with his fingers and saw it sinked.. and its extremely soft too.. Looking around and checking if any of the people are looking at his way he stood up straight and "casually" began walking towards the front side of the chair.. and "casually" sat down.
"Ughh Fuck.. What invention is this?!!? This is revolutionary!!" he said to himself and grumbled as he leaned back.
"Did you drink a potion from an alchemy student? Thats a couch you moron.. and wheres your uniform? you're lucky no diciplinary student cought you yet! that'll be 100 credits penelty!" Suddenly a girl spoke behind him.
Hearing her Arteus flinched, not expecting a reply from anyone. 'Who's this bitch?? Why is she talking to me?' He wondered watching her walked infront of him.
".....What?" He said finally replying after a long silence.
Hearing what he said, the girl sigh..
"Yup, you do sounds like you drank a potion of forgetting.. for what? a few credits? you'll be lucky if that wears off after a few hours.. worst case its permanent.. You shouln't do something like that casually you know..." Suddenly she went quiet.
He then saw her looking at his clothes... and once again spoke.
"By the way.... I never got your name?"
Arteus, hesitate for a bit before speaking a habit he got for living in the slums.
Looking at her she looks kinda nice, a beautiful and lush blonde hair and a cute blue ribbon on her head. She appears to be around his age or maybe slightly older. Shes wearing a female uniform with the familiar gold trimmed seams.
"It's Arteus" he replied not really feeling a hint of hostility from her.
"Ohh how nice! Whats your family name?" The girl spoke smiling at him...wierdly.
"No, thats it...I —"
"I knew it.. and here I thought I finally found someone interesting...Fucking gross" She interupted him, her entire demeanor shifting as she looked at him with disgust and spoke with a condecending tone before leaving without looking back.
And he noticed something too.. Around him.. the people who wasn't paying much attention to him started eyeing him with contempt and disgust.
'I guess, I wasn't welcome here as much as I thought' He spoke while glaring back at them. 'Ah.. just looking at them makes me want to beat them up' Those glares reminds him of that fucking guardsman from Lumens.
"I'm leaving" he spoke sighing as his mood soured. Then he stood up and began walking around and saw two pair of strange metal door that have a sign on top of it that reads:
"Ground Floor — Lobby"
Suddenly, a soft 'ding' could be heard as he saw the metal door opening up. And a group of people wearing the uniform came out.. they mostly ignored him and left.
'The fuck? What are they all doing in this cramped room?' he wonders before he himself went inside in curiosity.
Looking around he saw a glowing sign inside a glass on top of the door from the inside.. it reads •Ground•. Then suddenly he flinched when the door closed infront of him. And he began panicking and looked around only to see a rectangular pad besides the door and dozen buttons on it.
•Ground•. F1. F2. F3.... F20.
Looking at it an idea came to his mind and he soon calmed down... and then he brough his right hand up and runs his left thumb down the ••• on his wrist. And the familiar holgraphic projection came out.
___________________
Arteus
1st year - class 2B
Room - B2F4R16
•Desperados•
___________________
Checking it, he quickly dismissed it and turned his attention on the buttons and pressed F4. And with a slight delay the entire room suddenly shuddered softly almost making his knees buckle.
The glowing sign ontop of the door suddenly changed
•F1•. then to •F2• and after a while it turned into •F4• and a soft 'Ding' could be heard all over the small room.. and the door opened up revealing a long hallway with rows of doors on both side.
'Hehe it worked.. Im such a genius!' he smiled and thought as he began walking. Each door has a sign on them with the first one being R1.. Already having an idea he began walking faster and checking the signs.
R4
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.
R8
.
.
R11
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.
And finally R16.. Smiling he reached out for the door knob with his right hand. When his hand came in contact with the door, he felt something pulse and saw the dots on his wrist blinked a green soft light and with that.
*CLick*
He opened the door and stepped inside.
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